AbbVie Inc (NYSE:ABBV) announced that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Duopa, the company’s treatment for Parkinson’s disease.
The approval was based on positive results from Phase III clinical trials for the drug, which showed that Duopa reduced the time duration the patients suffered from Parkinson’s symptoms.

AbbVie Inc. (ABBV) announced plans to acquire Shire PLC (ADR) (SHPG) for $54 billion in July 2014, in an attempt to shift its headquarters to the UK to take advantage of the lower tax rate. The deal, however, may not be completed due to concerns over the new tax inversion rules announced by the US Treasury on Monday.

The Burrill Report submits: Pfizer's (PFE) venture arm has placed its latest targeted therapeutics bet yet by leading a $15.5 million round for the development stage cancer and autoimmune diagnostics company Nodality. The money will support Nodality’s launch of its first test for acute myelogenous leukemia, one of the most common types of the bone marrow cancer in adults.

AbbVie Inc (NYSE:ABBV) will be providing its breakthrough hepatitis C drug Viekira Pak to state-sponsored HIV drug programs at a ‘substantial’ discount, according to the Aids Drug Assistance Programs (ADAP) Crisis Task Force, a group that negotiates prices of drugs for the programs.

AbbVie Inc (NYSE:ABBV) and Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) have lately been in a fierce pricing competition for their versions of hepatitis C drugs, with both the companies offering remarkable discounts to pharmacy-benefits managers so much so that one insurer has now decided to give patients access to drugs from both the companies instead of choosing to sign an exclusivity agreement with one.

On May 14, when venture capitalists and sovereign wealth funds announced the largest first round venture financing in the history of biotech, $217 million for Denali Therapeutics, my “bubble alarm” went off. On its face, this is exactly the kind of extravagant financing that happens at the peak of a market. [...]

The market as a whole rose Friday, but its performance was not as strong as demonstrated Thursday. Most sectors ended the day in the green. The health-care sector also recorded an increase; however, the increase was slightly lower than the broader tape. The S&P 500 INDEX (INDEXCBOE:SPX) was up 0.46% Friday, while the Health Care SPDR (ETF) (NYSEARCA:XLV) rose 0.26%.

By Tiran Rothman:Compared to its relative prevalence, Celiac disease is the most common disease that has zero treatments on the market. To make matters worse, only four companies are developing drugs for treatment of Celiac, and until a few days ago, this entire field has been flying under the radar.